Reeeeeeeee69's Decklists with Favorable Wanderer Matchups

[owlbeastmd]

Hi all,

Reeeeeeeeeee69 here with a particularly spicy thread topic. Attached below, you will find multiple deck lists which, in my opinion from at least 25+ games of playtesting per list, has (1) a favored matchup vs. one of the top 2 wanderer archetypes (rag or reva) and (2) pulls at least even with the other top deck (reva or rag) OR is heavily favored against the less popular generals (zirix, brome, lilithe, kara, faie). Note that this list is not exhaustive, and only includes lists I have played personally which meet the above criteria.

My hope is not to create another hate thread, but rather a launchpad which gives players young and old the tools to counter this meta monolith, as well as initiating a renaissance in deckbuilding diversity. Feel free to voice your thoughts below.

Without further ado:

I. Abyssian

Wraithcrown lilithe
Rough tier estimate- tier 2.
Matchups: Reva - even, Ragnora - favored, lilithe - favored, brome - favored
Comments: Average list, above average meta choice. Also boasts a favored matchup against most fault decks. Be wary of overcommiting board (vs rag) or artifacts (any list with emp), and victory is likely. Deck has by far the best winrate of anything I’ve played vs flash wanderer, going 11-3 in the past two seasons. A poor laddering choice if ziran and aggro reva are common.

Aggro Cass
Rough tier estimate- tier 1
Matchups: Reva - favored, Ragnora - favored, lilithe - even, brome - even
Comments: Minmaxer must be turning in his grave over the lack of attention this deck gets. Boasting cheap tempo plays for the wanderer turn and more than enough sustain to burn all but the most dedicated of heal to ash, aggro cass remains a potent ladder threat. Dark seed and blaze hound are remarkably powerful with all the trial decks running amok.

II. Songhai

[Album] Imgur

Aggro Reva (credit: Alphacentury)
Rough tier estimate: tier 1
Matchups: Reva - favored, ragnora - even/favored, zirix - favored, brome - unfavored, lilithe - favored
Comments: The brainchild of the late grandmaster Alphacentury, aggro reva is perhaps the best all-around laddering choice at the moment. Damage ceiling is incredible. Be sure to hold jux and position in a way to render wanderer turns swing turns, as a swing plays of this caliber often win the game.

Artifact Hai
Rough Tier estimate: tier 1.5/2
Match ups: Rag - favored, Reva - even, Lilithe - heavily favored, others - not enough data
Comments: My iteration of the archetype popularized by eurasianjay and crankypanda during the great Vaath War. Legend has it whenever a ping-poor deck climbs to the top, so too shall this list rise to meet it. Buffs to mask of shadows make flicker and mistwalking worth running. Be wary, though player 2 highrolls are sure to net a handful of wins, this deck is extremely unforgiving of misplays and features what may be the most grueling learning curve of any current deck.

III. Vetruvian

Aggro Zirix (shell credit to Minmaxer)
Rough tier estimate: tier 1/1.5
Matchups: Reva - favored, ragnora - even/favored, zirix - even/unfavored, brome - favored, lilithe - favored
Comments: Yet another Minmaxer gem left to obscurity. Deck was designed to tear through midrange, something it continues to deliver on despite nerfs to falcius. Mastering use of sandswirl reader is the key to approaching this deck’s ceiling.

IV. Lyonar


Burn Ziran
Rough tier estimate: tier 1
Matchups: Reva - favored, ragnora - favored, zirix - favored, brome - unfavored, lilithe - heavily favored
Comments: Probably biased with this deck due to how much time I’ve spent with it, but heal ziran remains a gold-standard deck for any occasion. Sunrise paragon shores up the previous weakness to large bodies (wanderer, visionar, etc) while providing possible heal targets for your own minions.

V. Closing thoughts and bullets:

Common deck themes which improve wanderer matchups:

• cheap removal cards which turn wanderer turns into swing turns
• damage-heavy decks capitalize on inconsistent healing
• Artifacts capitalize on inconsistent ping (attack boosts greater than 1 prevent GF ripper combos)
• backline threats capitalize on inconsistent removal (ex. sunforge lancer vs songhai, etc)
• 2-3x sunset paragon is a solid quick fix for decks which particularly struggle vs wanderer
• when piloting vs wanderer, 8/10 you will have to be the aggressor. Play accordingly.
• That said, be aware that playing aggressively does NOT mean you can ignore board with impunity. Knowing when to develop and when to trade in is the key to mastering this match up (and the entire game, for that matter)

General thoughts:

• Minmaxer is sorely missed
• meta is far from solved
• wanderer may be overtuned for certain generals due to bbs and ramp, but can be teched for and beaten like any other top deck.

[alplod]

I love you.

I would also love some comments on how these decks work against Fault Zirix which is also a pain.

[loliconartist]

Gimme a second and ill get to you on that myself

General tips to beating f zirix:
Play to center if you are winning or its early, taking center control allows you to gain advantage in reach and positioning early, which lets you snowball the early game. This is when f zirix is weakest anyways.

Play aggressive, you want to beat em silly before fault comes out, similar to wanderer.

Faultis very similar to wanderer, yet trades in consistency for power and slightly better speed.

Side in lightbenders

Always, and I mean always, prevent a manaforger or celebrant from sticking/ reaching a mana tile

Tempo ziran-obviously never play lancer, or khanuum cuck is coming.

Keep in mind you have awesome aoe damage, use this to your advantage post fault to wipe waves and take that small window of time to beat in enemy face and develop board.

You can afford to beat in zirix’s face, you have healing.

Honestly you are heavily favored here, you deal huge damage and still heal face better than anyone.

Aggro zirix
Sandswirl reader and second wish are characterizedly weak here, because of the strong removal package vets pack. (And because fault plays very little you need to bounce generally) However, using second wish on a minion the turn before fault adds a huge dilemma, and will often result in either a huge swing for board and face or yet another stall on the faults arrival.

Also try, however you can, try to pressure them OUT of center. Getting them away from center gets them away from the place where all their advantadge comes from.

If you do have a s reader, use it on a opponents sand tile to start picking away at their fault.

[owlbeastmd]

agreed. Only caveat I’d add is that there are a few niche instances where you can play lancer vs. fault. Going on 6 vs a clear board is one of them. If you’re above 18 or can stop a full ka blitz, baiting ka is often a nice way to set up lethal. But generally yes, you want to be cycling lancer vs zirix

edit: above 18 + enemy board*

[loliconartist]

Absolutely understand and agree with where you are coming from, still takes a really confident board and face dmg lead to be able to be ahead enough to kill zirix before kha comes out.

I also think that @owlbeastmd can handle the arti reva matchup vs fault, given I personally have little experience with the archetype.

Anyways, aggro reva is basically play it as normal. Destroy the opponents board early and snowball that lead into a win.

Wraithcrown lilithe is favored as well, but an interesting thing to note is you can play all your value threats like furiosa and bbmentor as soon as you have them. Early they have no mana to reader or boa, and if they do then it will generally conflict with fault.

Aggro cass loves board. Use grasp of agony to get 2 for 1s or even 3 for ones along with developing your board, then proceed to plug it all in face to finish your opponent off after fault comes out.

[mmf]

I used to remember when you were called @owlbeastmd.

Now I don’t

[owlbeastmd]

I used to remember when wanderer didn’t exist in duelyst. Now I don’t ;_;